The fertility rates in the United States have sunk to its lowest level ever since fertility rates were recorded, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed. In the first quarter of this year, the CDC recorded a general fertility rate of 59.8 births per 1000 women in the country.
The general fertility rate is the term used by the CDC to refer to the total number of births in the United States per 1,000 women who are aged 15 to 44 years old. The fertility rate was first recorded in 1909, and CNN reported that the 59.8 births recorded in the first quarter of 2016 is the lowest fertility rate ever since that first recording.
CDC: US fertility rate at lowest point since record keeping started more than a century ago https://t.co/SYeLM100ll pic.twitter.com/VeN9xlNZNJ
— CNN (@CNN) August 12, 2016
The report said that in 1957, the fertility rate for the United States was 122.9 births per 1,000 women. Meanwhile, a Daily reported that the first recorded fertility rate in 1909 yielded the information that there were 126.8 babies born per 1,000 mothers during that time. The news organization added that one essential factor in the decreasing fertility rate was more women delayed getting pregnant.
These women who delayed their pregnancy have also reportedly suffered from more fertility problems as a result. CDC data showed that there were declines in fertility rate across all ages of women in the United States from the last quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, except in women aged 45 years old and above, which maintained a fertility rate of 0.9 births per 1000 mothers.
On a yearly basis, however, fertility rate in women aged 30 to 34 years, 40-44 years, and those aged 45 years old and above showed an increase from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016. Decline in fertility rate were seen in the other age groups of women over the same period, namely women aged 15 to 19, 20-24 and those 25-29 years old.
According to an article in The Atlantic, the rising fertility rates in older mothers are partly caused by IVF and other reproductive technology. The article said that while there may be a record decline in the United States fertility, but there are still more babies in the country compared to ten years before.
